10 best remote work companies

The pandemic was a catalyst for the dramatic shift to remote work, but other factors have made it the new status quo. Employee retention, increased productivity, the ability to hire diverse employees around the globe, and motivated team members are some of the many benefits employers have realized by adopting remote work policies. 

Then, throw in stats such as: 

• According to FlexJobs' 2021 Survey, 58% of over 4,500 respondents want to work full-time from home after the pandemic, while 39% prefer a hybrid work environment. That's a whopping 97% of employees who want to work from home in some capacity.
• Oyster’s Employee Expectations Report found that 44% of employees say remote working is one of their top 3 factors when it came to their ideal company.

And it becomes evident that as the world reopens, remote work is here to stay. 

If you’re still on the fence, take a cue from these ten companies that have successfully implemented remote work models.

1. Twitter

Model: Hybrid, remote-first

Twitter was one of the first tech companies to announce its employees would work from home permanently. 

They also had a headstart on the work-from-home train. Twitter’s HR team had been experimenting with remote work since January 2018 after Jack Dorsey unexpectedly forwarded an email on working from home and the effect on his productivity to the whole company. 

Employees who prefer a hybrid or in-office arrangement can go into offices in San Francisco, New York, and nine other cities across the United States.

2. Slack

Model: Hybrid

Slack is known as the product that enables remote communication and collaboration. So, it's no surprise that they have a robust remote working policy.

Most new positions at Slack are now open to remote candidates, and current employees can work from home indefinitely. While the offices will continue to exist in some form, employees and candidates will have more options for working.

The company believes in-person meetings will still happen, but only for pre-planned events like project kickoffs and team building.

3. Adobe

Model: Hybrid

Adobe intends to keep its offices open, but employees can work remotely for up to 50% of the time. The company is reserving physical group meetings for “moments that matter.”

Adobe encourages employees and management to create their own "cadence" for remote and in-person work, ensuring flexibility. To that end, the company claims that it has traded real-time meetings for more asynchronous communication.

Being a software company, Adobe created an in-house smart digital campus app—Adobe Life—to help employees stay engaged and connected. 

4. Pinterest

Model: Hybrid, remote

In 2020, Pinterest announced it doesn't expect employees to return to work and then canceled a large lease on office space in San Francisco. 

That’s one of the plus sides of remote work for companies; they spend less on overhead costs like office leases and catering. According to a Global Workplace Analytics study, allowing employees to work from home half of the time would save employers an average of $11,000 per employee. 

Pinterest covers monthly work-from-home expenses for employees, and employees in hybrid roles are expected in the office 1-3 days per week. Pinterest still has offices in eight different cities across the United States.

5. Dropbox

Model: Hybrid, remote-first

Since October 2020, Dropbox employees have been able to work from home daily. Still, Dropbox also supports an in-office model for hybrid employees. Some of the company's offices have been transformed into collaborative co-working spaces called Dropbox Studios (in Seattle, San Francisco, and Austin, for example).

According to Dropbox, the in-office arrangement will enable human connection and reflect Dropbox’s culture of empathy. 

Dropbox Studios will be available at every location previously associated with an office, and more will be added as the company's distributed workforce grows.

6. Coinbase

Model: Hybrid, remote-first

Coinbase aims for a remote-first future, to decentralize operations from a single headquarters and expand their talent pool to include non-local workers.

The crypto company is committed to creating a culture that helps employees “embody what it means to act like owners.” Shortly, Coinbase will amp up hybrid work arrangements, with some folks in the office five days a week, some a few days a week, and others never. Employees can report to offices in San Francisco or three other US cities for a hybrid work setup.

Coinbase is proactive about its remote policies, but the company acknowledges that there will be much on-the-fly learning as they deal with this massive change. 

7. Upwork

Model: Hybrid, remote-first

Upwork implemented its remote work model before the pandemic. The company had garnered 20 years of experience as a remote-first company, thanks to its status as the world's largest freelance marketplace. 

As a result, its permanent shift to a remote-first model makes perfect sense.

Even so, Upwork maintains two offices and hopes that teams will come together for intentional collaboration and socialization once it is safe to do so. Employees can work from home full-time or make use of offices in Chicago and San Francisco in the meantime.

8. LinkedIn

Model: Hybrid, fully remote option

In July 2021, LinkedIn announced that it would adopt a hybrid model with a fully remote option, allowing employees to choose their preferred work environment. 

The change follows the company's initial policy of requiring employees to work from an office 50% of the time once governments lift the lockdown restrictions. LinkedIn still operates from offices in eight cities across the United States, but its new policy will apply to its 16,000 employees worldwide.

9. Shopify

Model: Hybrid, remote-first

Shopify announced its “digital by default” status in May of 2020. CEO Tobi Lutke tweeted that most of his offices would “permanently work remotely” even after the pandemic ends. When available, employees can choose from two offices in Canada and one in Ireland.

Apart from health and safety concerns, Shopify's shift to a remote work model is fueled by a concern for the environment. The company is embracing telecommuting because of its impact on reducing carbon footprints and its potential for creating a productive, effective, and inclusive workplace.

10. Oyster

Model: Remote-first

Yeah, that’s us. At Oyster, we want to break down the barriers of cross-border employment so that talented people worldwide can build successful careers regardless of where they live.

We're on a mission to make it easier than ever for growing businesses to find and hire brilliant people anywhere in the world.

So we’re walking our talk by creating a workplace that enables remote employment. Oyster is a borderless, HQ-less company with teammates in 60+ countries and counting. To help our people ease into the WFH life, we offer a laptop and a $1500 stipend for equipment and office set-up. 

Because we’re big on empathy and mental health, parent employees get flexible parental leave, and everyone gets 40 days annual leave (inclusive of regional holidays).

(Pssst… We’re hiring! Take a look at our open roles here.)

Make the switch with ease

For centuries, humanity has moved on to more efficient ways of doing things when we discover them. From postcards to emails. Barter system to digital currencies. And now from traditional work settings to distributed work models.

The impromptu global shift to remote work has taught us all one thing: employees can be productive without being physically present. Letting people do their best work from wherever they’re most comfortable is a win-win for employees and employers alike.

We understand that transitioning to a distributed work model is not easy, especially where traditional values are deeply ingrained. But it is possible. It can even be seamless if you have the right partners in your corner! 😉

Want to learn more about how Oyster can help you hire anywhere? Learn more about us here!

About Oyster

Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, hire, pay, manage, develop, and take care of a thriving distributed workforce. Oyster lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.